Report highlights success of the Birmingham 2022 festival

The Birmingham 2022 Festival, the six-month celebration of creativity that accompanied the Commonwealth Games, brought not only pride and joy to the city - it gave a dramatic boost to the regional economy, new reports have revealed.

A series of independent evaluation reports, published at the Birmingham 2022 Festival Insight Event at the Birmingham Hippodrome, show the overall impact of the festival as well as delving into key aspects of the programme and its effect on those who participated and attended as well as the wider region.

The nine independently-produced reports - available here - evaluate the successes, learnings and impact of the vibrant and dynamic six-month cultural programme. They include the insights and learnings on individual projects and initiatives during the festival and a commitment to cement Birmingham 's reputation as an international centre of cultural and creative excellence.

They reveal powerful impacts on communities across the region and how it had diversity at its heart by engaging with a wide range of communities that represent ethnic diversity, gender, LGBTQIA+ and disability identities.

The reports also show a direct economic impact of £100 million and a further £87 million in GVA - additional value to the economy - including £47 million directly from tourists.

The evaluation shows a total attendance for the Festival Programme of 2,467,588, with 96 per cent of attendees rating their experience as good or excellent, while eight out of ten residents of the region said it had improved their own perceptions of where they live.

The combined workforce was 4,954 including staff and freelancers, with an additional 1,315 volunteers contributing to the festival.

It also helped to enhance Birmingham 's and the wider region 's reputation and profile with 83 per cent of tourists saying that it had improved their perception of the city and the West Midlands while 55 per cent of tourists who attended events said the festival was their primary reason for visiting, including 383,571 total generated tourist night stays.

The overarching report was led by the Indigo-Ltd Consortium Evaluation Team with further reports on Critical Mass (The Audience Agency), Skills Development (Punch Records & Indigo-Ltd), International Collaboration (The Audience Agency), LGBTQ+ Space (Dr Roz Stewart-Hall) Creative City Grants Programme (M-E-L Research), Route 34: North Birmingham Alliance (Earthen Lamp), Untold Stories (Punch Records & Indigo-Ltd) and Co-Creation (Punch Records & Indigo-Ltd).

Raidene Carter, executive producer of the Birmingham 2022 Festival, said: “In delivering the Festival as part of a Commonwealth Games, we commissioned a body of work which reflected this wonderful region and shone a light on our creativity and heritage.

“The Festival was brave enough to have honest conversations about what it means to be a Commonwealth city and region, and this led to welcome challenges we can all learn from as arts and culture-makers, alongside powerful statements about how we, here in the West Midlands, want to reflect ourselves to the world.

“Undoubtedly, this has had a positive effect on audiences and participants alike who felt healthier, happier, closer to their communities and more in touch with the city and wider region. ”